Saturday, May 24, 2008

I need to meet some Hungarians.

So, this came out awhile ago, but it was just pointed out to me that I really can't let the cover of the Hungarian translation of Julie & Julia come and go without comment:

There's a fish in the sky! A mouse in a tree! The sun is actually two fried eggs. A chicken is being held upright by a pair of pliers, and a sexy lady in a short nightie is digging around a refrigerator for a midnight snack. In a sheep pasture. Eric described it possibly best: "Chagall and Alice Waters having LCD-fueled sex on the Great Hungarian Plain."

21 Comments:

Just got "Julie and Julia" for my 20th birthday. It is officially my first summer read, and I love it with extra hearts. Here's why:

I just finished the Flaming Crepes! chapter. My facebook profile religious views read like this: food sex art. This chapter in particular encapsulated all that I find holy in this world. I identified with your food preparation starfuck lust completely. It also made me laugh.

I love that there are a million references to sex in the book, and I love the the one about Alice Waters having sex with Chagall on LSD. I write the sex column for Brown University's paper. I'd write about the foodsexart trifecta every week, but I think people would get pissed as I've written on aphrodisiacs already.

I'm also a English major w/ a creative non fiction focus, and your book has really gotten me to thinking about the possibilities for the future.

I'm curious-- how did you get the Julie/Julia Project from blog form to book form? What are you working on now? I could probably find out for myself via Google, but instead of stalking you, I thought I'd just ask directly.

That has got to be one of the most bizarre conceptualizations of a cover ever. I think you should probably ask the artist for a large print of it to hang in your home. It would be the ultimate dinner party conversation piece. Hmm...on second thought can I get one for my wall too?

I just finished reading your book... and I swear I thought this blog was just a made up thing... so I had to Google it see if it was true. I don't read very many blogs but I did find it weird (not the word I'm looking for) that you talk about Hungarians... A friend of mine, whose blog I read, moved there from the US in last year. I'll ask him if his Hungarian friends can tell you why your book cover is the way it is. Anyway... thanks for writing the book. I know this is out there... but as Fight Club is sort of an exploration of men recuperating their "masculinity" in fighting... IMHO... I sort of felt that your book was the other side of the coin... women finding sanity in today's life, with cooking. I could be wrong... but at least that's what cooking is for me. And I apologize to anyone who is offended with my opinion. :)

My mother in law gave me your book to read over a summer vacation and your book was the first book I ever finished reading during a holiday because I couldn't put it down. Love it!Now I am making my husband read too. ahahaThe funny coincidence is that we have moved from Texas ( Dallas ) to New York. We got married in September and now since I am not working I am trying to finally cook for my husband and the reason I had so much fun reading your great book.Thanks for the great times,Go Democrats!Best Regards,Suzana Ps: my bday is 911

Julie,I finished your book a few months ago and I loved it but, I was wondering is it at all possible to read the original blogs? I would so enjoy reading your blog from the beginning. Congrats on the movie & I think that the surreal Hungarian book cover is such a compliment to the book.

Oh my god Julie, as a Hungarian and a fan of both your book and your blog, I think I owe you a profuse apology on behalf of my people and the stylistically / graphically challenged cover artist who committed this monstrosity. (I just hope the total chaos on the outside isn’t a reflection of the messed-up translation on the inside.) In our defense, we did give the world Goulash and Wiener schnitzel (yes… despite the obviously Austrian-sounding name) but I don’t think those render us exempt from conventions of general good taste – which this cover so sorely offends.

What I find particularly disturbing is that the book is published by Ringer – purveyors of fine literature, along the lines of true confessions of Hollywood wives and prison memoirs of minor has-been celebrities. Julie, you deserve so much better – where was your agent?? Was he / she drunk on palinka when the deal was signed? Please accept my apologies…I’d send you a piece of schnitzel as a peace offering, if one could do such a thing virtually.